HoraceClarke66 channels the Proclaimers: “But I could run some 90 feet/ And I could run another 90 feet/ But that’s it, I mean my quads are barking/ Da d-da, da, da di-da, da, d-da, di-da-da.”

 From the mind of HoraceClarke66...

With apologies to The Proclaimers

 

So I looked up the numbers on our Glass Slugger, Giancarlo Stanton. And as Alphonso, our Dauntless Leader, and several others have surmised, it’s not as if he has been severely taxed.

 

Since the season started on April 1, G.S. has played in 33 games. All as DH, of course; the Yankees have not dared to play him in the field since an entire 13 games in 2019.

 

In 2021, G.S. has a total of 37 hits so far, plus 13 walks. Of the hits, he has 6 doubles and 9 home runs. And of course he has not attempted anything so dare-devilish as a stolen base.

 

In other words, all told, Stanton has had to jog up to first base or around the bases a total of 44 times. He probably ran hard 6 times—those darned doubles!—and likely a couple other times, during the 7 runs he’s scored that did not come on a home run.

 

Folks, this is less exercise than your average golfer gets. And I mean a golfer who goes hole-to-hole in a cart. And with a caddy. 

 

And yet, the Glass Slugger’s body still did not hold up.

 

What is this all about? 

 

Well, Ron Darling had the answer last night, when Met Kevin Pillar got hit right in the nose with a 95-mph pitch that looked absolutely terrifying.

 

“There is too much velocity in the game today, and not enough command.”

 

That’s it in a nutshell. That’s absolutely brilliant, even if he is a Yalie.

 

Too much velocity. Everyone feels obliged to torque their body to the sticking place, in what has become an endless muscle race between pitchers and hitters.

 

And nobody has enough command—over their pitches, their swings, or their brains. Most players can’t pitch to contact, they can’t hit to the opposite field, they can’t do anything but produce more velocity.

 

They are, most of them, just an endless series of injuries waiting to happen.